World Solar Challenge 2015

Trending News: 46 Cars Are Driving Through The Scorching Hot Australian Outback Powered Only By The Sun

Why Is This Important?

Because we're on the long desert road towards solar powered vehicles becoming viable.

Long Story Short

Solar-powered cars from around the world are off on a 1,800 mile race from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia.

Long Story

And they’re off.

Forty-six cars from 25 countries around the world have sped off through the Australian outback under the scorching sun this morning. But while the Sun’s insane temperatures make driving nearly unbearable — the cockpit can reach 122 degrees Fahrenheit — the sun isn’t the enemy. Rather, it’s these racers’ only friend.

The World Solar Challenge sees students from around the world go head to head behind the wheel of wacky futuristic cars in a 1,800 mile race from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia.

Head over to Australia's ABC News to check out some of the wild-looking cars, seven of which were made in the U.S. of A.

Some worth gawking at are the spaceship hovercraft-looking thing from M.I.T., the ping pong table-looking ‘Solis Bellator’ from Texas, and Indonesia’s red car that looks like something from a soap box derby.

While the University of Michigan’s car doesn’t look too great, it’s decked out with data analytics developed by IBM that gathers data from sensor networks and local weather stations.

"The solar forecasting technology will allow us to know where the clouds are, where they are going, and where we should go faster in order to chase the Sun," said Pavan Naik, programme manager for Michigan’s team, to BBC News.

Evidently this tactic is working, as they tweeted that they finished the day in first place.

In order to compete, the competitors are only allowed to store 5kWh of energy at a time (1kWh powers a light bulb for 8 hours), use no more than six square metres of solar panels (65 square feet) and must solely run on solar and kinetic energy. The racers also have to rest up each day at 5 p.m. in the desert for a break from the sun and to avoid hitting kangaroos (lol Australia).

The point of the race is to get people working on solar-powered cars that will actually work. On that front, they're getting there, but still a good ways off. For instance, the cars can go quickly, but not that quickly. The Liberty Solar Car team is quoted in ABC News as having gone 51km per hour (32 mph), but hoping to go quicker. There's also the factor that the Outback has plenty of sunlight, while many other places don't.

Still, many car companies like Ford are actively working on solar-powered cars, so there might be some hope down the line.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Will any of these cars ever amount to a real working solar-powered vehicle?

Disrupt Your Feed: Why not try driving these guys in cloudy England. See how fast they go then.

Drop This Fact: The cockpit gets so hot while the drivers are inside them that there is a hole specifically meant to drain sweat.